Elizabeth D. Leith

Elizabeth D. Leith was appointed to the Denver Probate Court in July 2011 as its presiding judge. Voters retained her in 2020 with 83.19 percent of the votes cast on the question: 259,805 yes and 52,501 no. Before her appointment she was a magistrate judge in Denver District Court, an assistant city attorney in Denver and a deputy district attorney in El Paso and Teller counties. She serves on Supreme Court and judicial branch committees and coaches other judicial officers. She earned her undergraduate degree at Metropolitan State University of Denver and her law degree at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance voted 10 to 0 that she meets performance standards. Its survey drew responses from 35 attorneys and 8 non-attorneys. The commission writes that she is "an experienced and hardworking jurist who demonstrates judicial efficiency and exceptional judicial demeanor" and that her "written decisions are definitive, thorough, and well-reasoned."

The commission writes that her notable strengths, as it observed them and as survey responses describe them, include "her deep knowledge of probate and mental health law, her fair and respectful treatment of parties, and her ability to manage effectively complex and emotionally difficult cases." It writes that it "did not identify any evaluation category in which Judge Leith displayed a notable weakness as to the performance criteria." It notes that probate and mental health cases carry no productivity benchmarks.